The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has decided to sanction Rs 12 crore to neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corpora-tion (PCMC) as its contribution for the construction of an alternate parallel bridge to Harris bridge on Mula river on the Old Mumbai-Pune highway near Dapodi.

“The civic administration had tabled a proposal to sanction contribution of funds for the construction of a parallel bridge to Harris bridge that connects PMC and PCMC. The bridge work would be carried out by PCMC,” said Balasaheb Bodke, chairperson of the standing committee.

Bodke said that the bridge is very crucial as there is traffic chaos during peak hours. The stretch of the highway in PCMC has 10 lanes but the bridge has only two lanes leading to traffic congestion. “The bridge is necessary to ease traffic flow on the Mumbai-Pune highway,” Bodke said.

On the other hand, the PMC recently constructed a bridge on Mula river near Balewadi with Rs 31 crore. The PCMC had contributed Rs 10 crore as it connects the two civic bodies.

Civic activists and residents of Pimpri-Chinchwad and even Pune city have been demanding the bridge for over a decade now. Through the day, there is a traffic jam on the stretch of road from Dapodi and Bopodi to Khadki.

“It will be a great relief for motorists. It takes 30-45 minutes to pass the stretch. Sometime, if a vehicle breaks down, it takes more than an hour. Only during afternoon, there is some relief,” said Kiran Dhanavate, a resident of Pimple Gurav, who works at Wakdewadi.